.: First Year :. "You know anything about astronomy?"

It took Orion a good couple of seconds before he realized that someone was speaking to him, finally turning to acknowledge the Hufflepuff's question with raised brows.

"Huh?" He asked, though after a moment he realized what the question was and lifted a hand to scratch at the side of his head, trying to stall

"Uh...yeah, I know a bit," he mumbled, starting to fiddle with the end of his quill. He wished he could be anywhere but up in the astronomy tower, waiting for the professor to step through the doors and introduce herself. It wasn't even that he didn't like the subject - quite the contrary, actually - he just knew that as soon as people made the connection that he was Professor Sinistra's son, he was going to be given a hard time by his classmates. He wasn't ashamed of the fact, but knowing he had a bit of an advantage when it came to the subject was sure to cause people to believe he was getting special treatment or some rubbish. If anything, he knew that his mother was probably going to scrutinize everything he got wrong on a test because he had grown up around her star charts and constellation maps.

“Isn’t Orion a star or something??”

Orion turned to look at Max, the other first year in the black and yellow robes who always looked like he was excited to be wherever he was. The kid had nearly been tripping over himself trying to make his way over to the sorting hat, and Orion couldn’t contain the grin that had spread across his face when the boy almost walked back into the crowd while still wearing it.

Yeah, he definitely remembered Max, and apparently he remembered Orion, in return.

“Stars, actually. Plural.”

“Right, right. A whole group of them - a consortion or something.”

“A constellation,” he gently corrected him, once again finding it hard not to be amused by the boy from the badger house. He almost forgot why he had been so anxious, up until the door to the astronomy tower flung open, and the all too familiar witch made her presence known.

“Welcome, class,” she started, offering them all a bright smile as she worked on setting her things down. “My name is Professor Sinistra.”

And there it was. As soon as the woman spoke her name, there were at least 3 different heads turning to focus in on the 11 year old who shared the same surname. Orion was hunched so far down in his seat that it was hard to see anything but his shoulders if you were sitting behind him. It went quiet for a moment and then Max took in a breath, like he had been thinking about something since she had walked through the door and didn’t know what it meant until just now.

“Wait a second, isn’t that your name?"

Max's voice wasn't as low as he thought it was, and once more people started to catch on, Orion sunk down lower in his chair, suddenly becoming very interested in the feather of his quill. Once his mother started to notice, she clapped her hands loudly to regain silence and get their attention. She gave him a quick glanec before she went back to talking about what she had planned for the school year. Once she turned away from him, Orion let out a quiet groan as he dropped his head down to bury his face in his arms, which were folded on top of the table.

“Just kill me now.” return to top .: Startled :. Orion had lost track of how many times he and Nora had seen each other over the last few months. He hardly considered it to be a bad thing, seeing how he had always thoroughly enjoyed her company, but their visits had become much more frequent since December. She seemed so shaken up back then, though she was hesitant about telling him why. He tried not to pry, but there was no suppressing his concern. It started with him inviting her over for dinner a few nights a week, if only just to get her out of her empty house. She had Kenneth there to keep her company, though he could imagine that when one was having a bad day, conversing with a Jarvey wasn’t the easiest thing to do. It seemed that his efforts didn’t go unappreciated, seeing how there had yet to be a night where Nora didn’t thank him ‘so much’ for having her over. He would just keep reminding her that it was what friends do, though he did feel guilty sometimes when he looked back on how far they had drifted apart over the years. She had gone off to get herself a career, and he had done the same, though now that they were both pretty settled in (for the most part), it was easier to set time aside for old friends, and rebuild relationships.

Over the last couple of weeks, Nora had become much more comfortable at his place. The alternated between who would make or pick up dinner, and on nights where they didn’t have work, they lost track of time and stayed up until the early hours of the morning. They always had something to talk about, seeing how they shared so many of the same interests, and the minutes just seemed to tick by. Even when the both of them fell quiet, the silence was never awkward. It was nice having someone else in the house, since he had no pets or roommates to speak of.

On the nights where they stayed up until the crack of dawn, Orion had come back into his living room on more than one occasion to find Nora passed out on his couch. Instead of waking her up, he would just scoop her up into his arms and carry her into his bedroom, covering her with blankets so she was more comfortable. He wound up taking the couch, though he usually woke up with a kink in his neck the next morning. She had scolded him on more than one occasion to just kick her out if she fell asleep, but he never listened.

It was the last week in February, and the two friends were sitting on opposite ends of Orion’s couch. She was curled up with a book on her lap, a text about magical creatures. Orion grabbed an old sports magazine from his coffee table and was flipping through the pages, pretending to be interested. Truth be told, the redhead on the other end of the couch had more of his attention than the Quidditch players who were zooming by in the article panels. He wasn’t sure what it was – maybe it was the look of genuine interest she had on her face as she skimmed the pages, or the way her curls fell into her eyes, but he couldn’t stop watching her. Every now and then she’d look up to share something interesting she had read, and the smile that was plastered on her face was contagious. He had always thought she was pretty, but he knew there was more to it than that. Still, this was Nora. They were friends.

“You don’t think I’m being terribly rude, do you?” She asked as she looked over at him again, looking guilty.

“I think you’re the rudest,” Orion said dryly through a crooked smirk. Nora rolled her eyes, and closed her book, placing it down on the coffee table, her feet lifting up onto the couch so she could hug her knees.

“I just find it all so fascinating,” she admitted, smiling at him. “There are so many things we still don’t know about these animals.”

“I don’t think it’s really fair to assume we’ll ever know everything about ‘em. There are still so many things we don’t even know about people. That’s what keeps ‘em interesting, though.”

Nora nodded slowly. “You’re right,” she said.

“Often am,” he retorted, and she snickered before giving him a playful push, causing him to laugh before his neck craned to look at the time. “Shite,” he muttered beneath his breath, dropping the magazine down onto the table before he leaned back on the couch, lifting his hands to rub at his face. “I have to be up in 5 hours,” he said with a groan. Nora looked at the clock and seemed just as surprised. “Oh my God, how does this keep happening to us?” she asked, and Orion snorted before shaking his head, dropping his hands down to his lap. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he answered, looking over at her again. “You’re welcome to spend the night again,” he offered, and he watched her bite at her cheek in contemplation before letting out a sigh. “I guess it would just be easier to stay here than go home, wouldn’t it?” He smirked at her need to justify her decision, and he nodded his head before standing to his feet. “I’ll just grab some things I’ll be needing in the morning,” he explained, heading into his room, Nora close behind.

He grabbed her a shirt and a pair of drawstring pants to sleep in, and while she was in the bathroom changing, he got himself into something similar. She looked smaller than she usually did as she emerged from the bathroom, practically swimming in the fabric of his clothes because of their size difference. “That’s a good look for you,” he teased, though there was something oddly attractive about how she looked in his t-shirt. She just laughed and took a seat on the edge of his bed, watching him sort through his drawers for what he would wear in the morning. Her lips rolled under as she watched him, and eventually spoke up.

“You know, it’s really silly that you keep sleeping on the couch,” she said, though she hesitated before speaking again. “I mean, there’s plenty of room in here for the both of us. You already know how guilty I feel knowing you’re giving up your bed for me, and it just seems…practical,” she nodded as a way of punctuating her final word, and Orion lifted a brow. “I’ll try not to hog the covers,” she added with a smile, and Orion reached up to scratch the back of his head, contemplating his decision before nodding his head. “If you insist,” he said, and made his way around to the other side of the bed, the both of them crawling under the covers. Once they were both settled, he reached over to turn off his bedside lamp and they said goodnight, Orion laying on his back with Nora on her side, facing him. For a while, he attempted to sleep. He closed his eyes, but there was something keeping him from drifting off. Maybe it was knowing he had to be up in a few hours, but in reality it was knowing that Nora was so close to him. He just couldn’t admit it to himself because they had been friends for so long.

“…Orion?”

Her voice was soft, and he blinked his eyes open before turning his head to face her. “Hm?”

“Just wondering if you were awake,” she said quietly, shifting beneath the sheets.

“You alright?” He asked, turning onto his side so that he could see her better through the soft moonlight coming in through the window.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just-…” she stopped herself in order to collect her thoughts. “I just…I wanted to say how much I appreciate all this,” she said. “I don’t just mean letting me stay here, since I’m pretty sure I’ve thanked you so much that the words barely have meaning anymore, but I just…I don’t know,” she admitted, sighing because she couldn’t think of a way to sound more eloquent. “I suppose this probably could have waited until morning,” she admitted sheepishly, and Orion smirked at her, a hand lifting to push away some hair gravity had caused to fall into her face.

“Don’t really mind hearing it now,” he assured her, dropping his hand down onto the space on the bed between them. Nora let out a breath, her hand reaching up to grab his. “You’re a good man, Orion…” The words were spoken in a hushed tone before she pushed herself onto her elbow in order to lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek. His eyes fell closed as he felt her lips against his skin, and he swallowed thickly when she pulled away. He actually felt quite guilty for enjoying that brief moment of contact, because here she was telling him how much she appreciated him, and what a good man he was, and if he acted on instincts it might ruin all that. Even when she parted from him, her face remained close to his, and he saw her line of vision flicker down to his lips before her eyes were back on his.

“I enjoy having you hear,” he said quietly; sincerely. “I care about you, Nora. Always have.”

And it was true, though something had definitely changed over the last couple of months. She lifted a hand to tuck some hair behind her ear, her mouth twitching upwards. “I care about you, too,” she said in an equally hushed tone, and rolled her lips under before reaching to touch his cheek, feeling the coarse hair of his beard beneath her fingers. She tentatively moved her face just a little closer to his, possibly without even realizing she was doing it. This was enough for Orion to ignore all the parts of his brain that kept telling him this was a bad idea. His head lifted from the pillow, and soon their lips were touching. It took a moment for both of them to really register what was happening – they had been friends for so long, and this had never been something either of them had planned. It started with a chaste kiss before they parted enough to look at one another through heavy lids. Orion could already feel his heartbeat picking up pace. They were both pretty startled by the new development; even more surprised by how fucking great it felt.

“Ori—“

Before his name could finish rolling off her tongue, he occupied her lips by pressing his against them a second time. She hummed into his mouth, relenting and kissing him deeply once she decided it was a much better option than talking. They hadn’t imagined this was how their night would end, but now that it was happening, they didn’t have enough self-control to stop, even if they wanted to.

And they really didn’t want to. return to top .: Working :. (drabble) return to top .: Muggle :. (drabble) return to top